Repetition hurts Carbon Leaf

By Emily Barksdale
St. Marys High School

Carbon Leaf’s album, “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat,” has some songs worth a listen, but I don’t know if I’d recommend the whole album. You may, as I sometimes do, grow tired of it. Released in 2006, it has generally insightful lyrics, a mellow, alternative sound — and very little musical variety.

Their first track, “Learn to Fly,” is a percussion-infused, light-hearted view of getting over a break-up. It’s followed by the first single and title track, which includes a bit of mellow jamming and gives some insight into life in general.

Number three, “Under the Wire,” is a personal favorite, featuring smooth sounds and lyrics about wanting to get out and see more of life. “Royal One” is nothing special — a tale of loss.

I still don’t understand track five, “A Girl and Her Horse,” which states that a girl is always with her horse. Conceivably, it is a metaphorical horse, and the males of the world are crying out at their supposed inability to understand the inner workings of the female mind - who knows?

Number six, “Texas Stars,” has some of the sweetest lyrics on the whole album, letting a girl know that she can still be beautiful and free despite what may or may not have happened in the past. Because of that, I’m really sad that it shares the same sound with 10 other songs on the album.

“Block of Wood” is also sweet, offering comfort when a loved one grieves, but again, it just blends in with the other tracks. Track eight, “Comfort,” has slightly more jamming than the rest of the songs and showcases a bit more vocal range than usual, so I am definitely a big fan of it.

My take on “The War was in Color” is that singer-songwriter Barry Privett is imagining what his grandfather might have told him about World War II had he still been alive to do so. “Bright Lights,” which has a title with the potential to yield a great song, disappointedly turns out to simply recount the yearning for a new direction in a relationship.

Rounding out the album is “International Airport.” I really like its lyrics, and even though the music is (refreshingly) discernibly dissimilar to most of the rest of the tracks, I rarely make it to this song.

Obviously, the biggest flaw is that the guys tend to stay in the same key throughout the album, with roughly the same tempo, instruments and many of the same harmonies. This draws attention away from the lyrics and instead forces the listener to try to distinguish the songs from one another. This “samey” syndrome is a plight from which many current musicians suffer, so I wasn’t exactly surprised, just frustrated.

I enjoy a good melody and a bit of variety within a band, but I also listen for the lyrics. For this reason, I don’t mind “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat” once in a while, but potential fans should check out a few songs on iTunes first to make sure they can stomach them 11 times over.

This album is easy on the ears, but it may not be for the extremely musically-inclined. Carbon Leaf has talent; hopefully, the band can refine it and add some depth and range on its next album.